Connor, Connie Yerwood, 1908-1991

<p>CONNER, CONNIE YERWOOD (1907–1991).Connie Yerwood Conner, pioneer in public health in Texas and the first Black physician named to the Texas Public Health Service (now the Texas Department of Health), the oldest daughter of Dr. Charles R. and Melissa (Brown) Yerwood, was born in Victoria, Texas, on December 26, 1908. She decided to become a doctor when she was a young girl. She and her sister, Joyce, who also became a doctor, accompanied their father on house calls in his largely rural practice in Gonzales County. At first, they traveled by horse-drawn buggies, then later by automobile. Conner attended public school in Austin and graduated from the Samuel Huston College Academy in 1925. She received the bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Samuel Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson College). In 1933 she graduated cum laude from Meharry Medical School. She began her residency in pediatrics but became interested in public health. She earned a scholarship to study public health at the University of Michigan and returned to Texas in 1937, when she joined the Texas Public Health Service. During the early years of her work with the state health agency, Conner was responsible for training midwives in East Texas. She also served as a consultant in setting up health clinics that offered services such as well baby clinics and prenatal care to the rural poor of Texas. In the beginning her duties were limited to work among the Black population in East Texas, but as the need and demand grew, she eventually worked with all cultures throughout the state. She led the state's efforts in early periodic screening diagnosis, treatment, and chronic diseases for pregnancy and pediatrics. When she retired on August 31, 1977, she was director of health services.</p>

<p>Conner was president of the Lone Star State Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, secretary of the Charles H. Christian Medical Society, and a member of the Texas Medical Association. When she retired, she received outstanding service awards from the Texas Department of Health (renamed the Texas Department of State Health Services in 2003), the commissioner of health, and the staff of the maternal and child health division. She was the first African American to be appointed to serve on the Human Relations Committee, the predecessor of the Human Rights Commission (a local group of the Texas Commission on Human Rights). She was appointed to the first board of trustees of the Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center of Austin and Travis County. She also served on the boards of the Austin Child Guidance Center, Austin Evaluation Center, Citizens Advisory Committee to the Juvenile Board of Travis County, Girl Scouts, YWCA, and Travis County Grand Jury Association. She was a trustee of Samuel Huston College for fifteen years and was one of the board members who signed the merger agreement of Huston-Tillotson College in 1952; she continued on the board after the merger. Her retirement on March 22, 1991, was the culmination of over fifty-four years of service to the college. At her retirement from the board of trustees of the college she received its highest award, the Crystal Ram with Golden Horns. She was the second person to receive this prestigious award. She also received several awards as outstanding alumna from both Huston-Tillotson College and Meharry Medical College and an honorary degree of doctor of sciences from Samuel Huston College.</p>

<p>Conner was active in the Wesley United Methodist Church, where she served as chairman of the board of trustees. Even when she was traveling throughout the state as a young woman, she returned to Austin every weekend to teach a Sunday school class. She was a lay leader and received a distinguished service award from Church Women United for services in religious leadership. For fifteen years she served as grand treasurer in the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Links, Incorporated, the American Association of University Women, the Community Welfare Association, and many other organizations. Conner died on June 11, 1991, in Austin, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.</p>

<p>Connie finished her residency in pediatrics at the Kansas City General Hospital. An intense interest in public health issues inspired her to accept a scholarship from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Finally, in 1936, she returned to Austin and her home at 1115 East 12* Street. She accepted a position with the Texas Public Health Service (now the Texas Department of Health) and in the process became the first black physician, male or female, to work for this state agency. In her role as director of Maternal and Child Services, she "trained midwives, and set up immunization programs for children and prenatal and family clinics" (Winegarten 1995: 271). Though initially she was limited to working with the state's black population, eventually the success of her programs connected her with a much wider and diverse community including segments of the white and Mexican-American population (Monsho, Handbook of Texas). In her 41 years with the Dept. of Health, she faced continuous gender and racial discrimination, often being passed over for promotion. Through it all she persevered and at the time of her retirement in 1977, she had risen to the position oi Director of Health Services (Monsho, Handbook of Texas; Austin American Statesman 7/22/73).</p>
<p>Her contributions to the improvement of public health in the State of Texas were many, but her activities in the local Austin community had an equal if not more powerful impact. For over 54 years she served on the board of trustees at Huston-Tillotson College in East Austin and was one of the members who approved and signed the merger between Samuel Huston and Tillotson Colleges in 1952. When she retired from the board in 1991, she became only the second person to receive the college's most prestigious award, the Crystal Ram with Golden Horns. The college also awarded her an honorary degree of Doctor of Sciences.</p>
<p>She was the first African-American to serve on the Human Relations Committee, a local division of the State Commission on Human Rights. She also served as president of the Lone Star Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, the organization with whom her father had served as secretary-treasurer for 25 years. She was a member of the board of trustees of the Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center in Austin, and served on the boards of several other local agencies including the Austin Child Guidance Center, the Citizens Advisory Committee to the Juvenile Board of Travis County, and the Travis County Grand Jury Association. The list is long and varied.</p>
<p>In addition to serving on a number of established boards and commission, she was also instrumental in founding several organizations devoted specifically to helping the African American community of Austin. She helped found the Douglas Club, for example, a local group that facilitated the care of elderly and homeless black women in East Austin (King 2002). She also co-founded the Austin chapter of Links, Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting black education and community service on both the local and national levels. Until her death in 1991, she remained very active in her local church, Wesley United Methodist. Despite frequent job-related visits out-of-town, she almost always managed to make it home to teach Sunday school on the weekends (Austin American Statesman, 3/2/86; Monsho Handbook of Texas Online; Huston-Tillotson College Alumni and Friends Magazine, Spring 1991; Winegarten 1996; Dickson, 2002; King 2002; Kuykendall 2002). </p>

In 1937, Dr. Connie Yerwood Connor became the first black physician named to the Texas Public Health Service. She died at the age of 83. She died on June 11, 1991.

<p>Connie Yerwood Connor was a pioneer in public health in Texas and the first Black physician named to the Texas Public Health Service (now the Texas Department of Health). She was born in Victoria, Texas, in 1908. </p>

<p>Both she and her sister, Joyce, would go along with their father, Dr. Charles R. Yerwood, when he made house calls in Gonzales County before they moved to Austin. Witnessing her father practice medicine was enough to put both women on their paths into the medical field.</p>

<p>Connor attended public school in Austin and graduated from the Samuel Huston College Academy in 1925 and received the bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Samuel Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson College).</p>

<p>In 1933 she graduated cum laude from Meharry Medical School in Nashville, TN. She began her residency in pediatrics but became interested in public health and shifted the focus of her studies and earned a scholarship to study public health at the University of Michigan. She then returned to Texas in 1937, when she joined the Texas Public Health Service.</p>

<p>In her early years with the state health agency, Connor was responsible for training midwives in East Texas and serving as a consultant for setting up health clinics that offered natal and prenatal services to the rural poor of Texas. She actually led the state's efforts in early periodic screening diagnosis, treatment, and chronic diseases for pregnancy and pediatrics.</p>

<p>Initially her duties were limited to work among the Black population in East Texas, but as the need for her knowledge and services grew, she eventually came to work all over Texas and within all culture groups.</p>

<p>Connor was president of the Lone Star State Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, secretary of the Charles H. Christian Medical Society, and a member of the Texas Medical Association.</p>

<p>In 1977 she retired as the director of health services and received outstanding service awards from the Texas Department of Health (now the Texas Department of State Health Services), the commissioner of health, and the staff of the maternal and child health division.</p>

<p>She was the first African American to be appointed to serve on the Human Relations Committee, the predecessor of the Human Rights Commission (a local group of the Texas Commission on Human Rights), and was appointed to the first board of trustees of the Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center of Austin and Travis County. She also served on the boards of the Austin Child Guidance Center, Austin Evaluation Center, Citizens Advisory Committee to the Juvenile Board of Travis County, Girl Scouts, YWCA, and Travis County Grand Jury Association.</p>

<p>She became a trustee of Samuel Huston College and served for fifteen years and was one of the board members who signed the merger agreement of Huston-Tillotson College in 1952; continuing on as a trustee of the board after the merger.</p>

<p>Her retirement from that position in 1991 marked the culmination of over fifty-four years of service to the college and at her retirement from the board of trustees she received its highest award, the Crystal Ram with Golden Horns (she was only the second person to receive this prestigious award). This was among several awards she received as an outstanding alumna from both Huston-Tillotson College and Meharry Medical College in addition to an honorary degree of doctor of sciences from Samuel Huston College.</p>

<p>Throughout her career Connor was also active in the Wesley United Methodist Church, where she served as chairman of the board of trustees. Even when she was traveling throughout the state as a young woman, she returned to Austin every weekend to teach a Sunday school class, making sure she was home by Saturday to ensure she didn’t miss it. She was a lay leader and received a distinguished service award from Church Women United for services in religious leadership. For fifteen years she served as grand treasurer in the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Links, Incorporated, the American Association of University Women, the Community Welfare Association, and many other organizations. Connor died on June 11, 1991, in Austin, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery near her family.</p>

<p>Connie Yerwood Conner (ca. 1908 - June 11, 1991) was a Texas physician and first black doctor to serve on the Texas Department of Health.</p>

<p>Conner was born in Victoria, Texas and grew up in Austin. Early on, she decided she wanted to be a doctor. Conner's father was a physician and as a young woman, she and her sister Joyce Yerwood spent time with her father on the job. In 1925, she graduated from Samuel Huston College. Then Conner graduated cum laude from Meharry Medical College in 1933. Conner's residency was in pediatrics, but she eventually became more interested in public health and so went back to school on scholarship to study at the University of Michigan.</p>

<p>Conner became the first black woman to work for the Texas Department of Health in 1937. She was involved in training midwives in East Texas and set up wellness clinics in rural Texas. Conner was passed over for promotions regularly until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. She was the first black woman director of the Maternal and Child Health in Texas. By the time she retired in 1977, she had been promoted to the director of health services in Texas.</p>

<p>Conner died on June 11, 1991 in Austin. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Austin, Texas.</p>